


downtown dream

by mulgogish



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 00z + mark bffs, Alternate Universe - High School, Catholic School, Crack, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Mild Language, Other: See Story Notes, derry girls inspired, long overdue but it was dreams anniv yesterday, well kinda like dreamies imagined as derry girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26121910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mulgogish/pseuds/mulgogish
Summary: the dream team is back in school with donghyuck's cousin from canada, a few slip-ups that caused them to come across mr. nakamoto more times too many, and whole lot of teenage fun, they think.
Kudos: 2





	downtown dream

**Author's Note:**

> hi hello  
> so a few notes:  
> if any of you dont know, derry girls is a comedy series, watch it it's hilarious!  
> \- okay, fair warning, there are quite vulgar jokes and languages because that's how the character speaks but nothing offensive, hopefully?  
> \- the scenes are all taken from the show, might have tweaked a bit but yeah hehe  
> \- in this fic they call themselves 'dream team' which is cheesy but bear with me i needed context 💔  
> renjun as erin  
> jaemin as orla (aka best girl)  
> donghyuck as michelle  
> jeno as clare; and  
> mark as james  
> idk what else to say, but  
> enjoy!!!

_**F** irst_

It was a normal day as per usual, and if Renjun could skip it, he would. But he can't because he's trapped in his Ma Vic's home and she's feeding him and paying for his tuition fee. A Catholic School is what it is, and Renjun is just a typical high school boy who longs to live in the city, with tall buildings and polluted air. It's why they call themselves the Dream Team in the first place. Four of them, big dreams, it's kinda sentimental but who wouldn't dream that far when you're stuck inside a town this dull. 

He's almost there, he's almost out of here. It doesn't mean he's not happy here, no. This town is pretty neat, great people. Though, that's the thing, everybody knows everyone. One mistake, everyone could turn against you, but nothing extreme has ever happened, so why fret?

Except for Jaemin busting in his room and reading his diary, everything was cool. His Ma Vic didn't let him wear the denim jacket instead of their school blazer, which is lame, and it sort of pissed Jeno off. 

"I thought we were gonna be individuals this year?!" The tall boy with thick-rimmed glasses hissed at him upon sighting Renjun and his cousin. 

"Sorry, Ma wouldn't let me." He sighed as Jeno glared at him.

"Well, I'm not gonna be an individual on my own!" Jeno groans, taking the denim jacket off, switching to his olive blazer. 

  
  
  


They ended up lining inside the candy shop before taking the bus. It's as usual, same routine, same sour jelly order. Jeno had been pestering them about donating for a water supply system for kids in Africa. 

"How much do you need anyway?" Jaemin wonders, actively eating his lollipop. His eyes are wide as a saucer as he stares at the paper in Jeno's hand. 

"Any penny would do. But preferably ten thousand won."

"Ten thousand?!" Renjun stares longingly at the tubs of candies in front of him, holding a tong and a paper bag with a few jellies inside. He sighs, dropping the jellies back to its tub. 

"Uh uh uh, you touch it, you buy it." Joohyun, the owner of the store caught them red-handed. 

Jeno immediately gives him the puppy eyes, it's pretty horrific but he's trying his best. "Please, Joohyun. The kids in Africa need their water more than we need our candy. If you care to donate?" Jeno extends the paper to the counter, closing an eye when Joohyun glares at them. 

  
  


It didn't take long for Joohyun to yell at them to get out. Renjun huffs, glaring at the sky because he didn't get his jellies. Jaemin and Jeno were talking about the donation drive behind when Renjun spots Yukhei sticking posters on the wall across the store. Renjun admires how cool he is sometimes. He stands there, tall and proud. Renjun wishes he could be like him, tall. 

  
  


"Hey, Yukhei!" Renjun starts, feigning coolness. 

"Oh, hey Renjun. Do you have um, a lighter?" 

"No, I don't. I don't smoke." Renjun closes his eyes at the thought, _why the hell doesn't he smoke?!_

Jaemin decides to interrupt them there, "I have a lighter," and tosses the black thing to Yukhei. He pulls out a cigarette to light up. "I don't smoke either, I just like to burn stuff." 

Catching the cool guy off guard by Jaemin's words, he tossed the lighter back to him. "You guys coming tonight?"

"Are you inviting _me_?" Renjun accentuates the last word, but Yukhei just shrugs. 

"I'm inviting all of you."

Jeno gives the tall guy a once over, thinking a guy with black leather jacket on top of a white shirt with sleeves cut short, and a ripped skinny jeans, is a recipe for danger. "We'll think about it. Let's go, bus is leaving." 

  
  
  
  
  


They go pass several more annoying teenagers like them before stopping at the bus stop. Renjun hears someone call their names one by one, and he rolls his eyes. 

  
  


" _Mothafackas_!" 

  
  


Jaemin turns to the voice behind them and smiles waving at the guy walking towards them. Jeno besides them whispered about Donghyuck having no sense of shame. 

"What's up _motherfuckers_." Donghyuck repeats but with more emphasis. It makes Jeno groan even more, and Renjun rolls his eyes like it's about to get stuck at the back of his head. " _Motherfucker_ , it's my thing now." Donghyuck adds with glee, pointing to himself like a narcissistic clown, which he is. 

"Um," Renjun sensed something, and that something is the taller guy tailing behind Donghyuck. Looking completely lost, scanning his surroundings. "who's that guy?"

Donghyuck moves like he just remembered he needs to announce the person he's with, that his friends won't automatically understand what's happening. He points a thumb behind, "This is Mark, my cousin. Well, dickhead?" He raised an eyebrow at Mark. 

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Mark waves a hand, smiling awkwardly. His diction seems off. 

"Why is he making that funny noise?" Jaemin helps by whispering to Renjun when they can hear him clearly as the sun rises above them. 

It's Donghyuck's time to groan. "He's from Canada, Jaemin. That's the way they talk." 

"Canada?" Jeno asks, scrunching his nose. 

"Yeah, remember my Aunt Sooyoung? She calls herself Joy now. She went to Canada to get an abortion, didn't get the abortion either." Donghyuck moves to slap Mark's cheek enough to be heard but not enough to leave a mark. "Ain't that lucky of you, Markie?" 

Donghyuck jumps to entwine his arms to Jaemin and Jeno, leaving Mark trailing behind them. 

"I didn't actually know that." Mark mumbles in dazed. 

  
  
  
  
  


Sitting in front of the bus is a pain in the ass. The nuns guiding them to school would shush and point out every little thing they notice. Realizing that it's the only available seats, Donghyuck compromised by walking to the back, even with his friends' protest. These tiny freshmen could experience the frustration first hand on their first day. 

  
  


"Move along, go to the front now." Donghyuck says, making the other freshmen scramble up their seats until, 

"Hold on, don't stand up." A little shit head with mushroom hair tells them, and the other little shits followed his instruction. He looks at Donghyuck with a mocking look. 

"Look, you tiny kids go to the front or-"

"Or what?"

Donghyuck narrows his eyes. Oh, the little fella is testing him alright. "Or, or we'll beat you up."

_"Jesus Christ, Hyuck."_ Renjun spats out behind him. Jeno curses at the same time. 

"Go ahead," Mushroom boy leans closer, "beat me up." 

Donghyuck wouldn't admit he's being a jerk, and that he's certainly gonna get in trouble when his father hears him threatening a kid much younger than him. But if it's something he's learn from himself, it's to stay stubborn no matter the situation. "Well, not now. Later. After school."

"Okay, beat me up after school. I'm gonna bring my sister then, Seulgi. You know Seulgi?" 

" _The scary bear._ " Jeno panics, his voice shaking as he tugs the back of Donghyuck's blazer. 

"Seulgi? Seulgi's your sister?" Renjun applies, voice shaky like Jeno. They hear a faint, "Who's Seulgi?" from Mark behind the rest of them. No one answered him. 

  
  


"Listen," Donghyuck gives a stiff smile as mushroom boy. "I think there has been a mistake here." 

"I thought so, too." 

  
  
  


Thus, they ended up sitting in the middle when a few students scram seeing Donghyuck's ugly glaring at them to move to the front. They learn the mushroom boy's name is Jisung, and they shouldn't mess with Seulgi's younger brother. Seulgi is notorious just because she could look calm on the outside, but rumors say she's in a fight club. It could be true, considering the toned biceps Donghyuck saw during team building with seniors, it's terrifying. 

  
  
  
  


It wasn't a big deal. Okay, they threatened a freshman because they want to sit at the back. "Well, _you_ threatened them." Jeno helps with the correct accusation quietly. But they didn't mean any harm. It was a silly thing. Of course, Eunji the perfect prefect won't let it slide. 

"Welcome to a new school year, peers." She greets, far too cheery at seven in the morning. 

"Yeah, yeah." Donghyuck waves her off while Jaemin was kind enough to give her a smile back, and a small _Hi_. It's a wonder why Jaemin ended up in their group of idiots, but it's supposed to be a balanced system. Either way, Jaemin is a nice idiot. 

"A little birdie told me someone threatened one of our first years." 

"It was a joke!" Donghyuck says, flailing his arms up. "I mean, yeah, we threatened (" _You_ threatened.") them, but in a jokey way." 

"Well, I would let this slide, since I want us to get along. So I hope you won't do it again." 

Donghyuck, again, with his inability to be fucking decent, scoffs at Eunji. "Yeah, how about do _this_ again!" He raised his middle finger just right in front of Eunji's face before the girl walked away with a glare. 

"Seriously Donghyuck!" Renjun palms his face in frustration. 

  
  


-

  
  


"Okay, okay. Listen." Jeno starts, his usual reaction to things would be nervousness so it's not new that he's trying to start a pep talk with his shaky voice. Everything makes him nervous, it's the way God made him. 

For context, they were called to Mr. Nakamoto's office because, as Renjun says, "Donghyuck couldn't be a fucking decent human being for once." And now, they're here. 

"Look whatever happens, we have to stick together!" Jeno yells quietly just as Mr. Nakamoto opens the door. 

  
  
  
  


"...so I had nothing to do with it! IT WAS DONGHYUCK! --Okay, I'll admit I was there! I don't want to get punished for what I didn't do. If there's anyone who should be punished, it should be Donghyuck!" 

  
  


Donghyuck rolls his eyes from beside their nervous system of a friend, Renjun is looking at Jeno with stinky eyes while Jaemin is playing with his own hair. Mark has been quiet for a while, he's still awkward and couldn't for the life of him interrupt for a second to ask if he could go to the toilet. 

  
  


It was silent for a few seconds, Mr. Nakamoto leans his head on his arms perched up on his desk. "Well, I think it's safe to say we lost a little bit of respect for you there, Jeno." 

  
  
  
  


They discussed the events that happened that morning. When they didn't know their idiotic behaviour would lead them to this. Jisung was standing a foot beside their group. Talking about he doesn't feel unsafe or anything, that he would like to go now. 

"Well, okay." Mr. Nakamoto nodded when the group apologized. "Do you forgive them, Jisung?" 

"Am I allowed not to?"

"I guess so." 

"Okay, then I don't forgive them." 

Mr. Nakamoto is faced with the most difficult situation in his life after three nuns resigned two years ago because they found out they weren't interested in guys, and are just lesbians. 

"I guess we could compromise." 

  
  
  
  
  


_DETENTION._

  
  


Is what Mr. Nakamoto meant by _compromise_. The five of them are seated separately, but there's really no problem talking in a normal voice. Mrs. Kim is old and couldn't hear clearly anyway. By this time, Mark is too desperate to keep quiet. 

"Donghyuck, this is agony. I really need to go to the bathroom." Mark mumbles, hands gripping the side of the desk. 

His cousin glares at him from the front row, "Can you please stop crying in front of my face for one fucking minute, Mark?" 

  
  


Jeno feels dizzy, his breath is sort of hitching as he breathes. "I think I'm dying, guys. I think I'm dying."

"Oh for fuck's sake, Jeno." Donghyuck hissed, "You've basically skipped lunch!" 

"Is this still about that donation, Jeno?" Renjun gives him a pointed look in which Jeno nods. He responds to his friend with a sigh. 

  
  


Jaemin opens a blue notebook with doodles in front, he situates his feet on top of his desk and leans back on his chair, leisurely. He flips for a moment, until Renjun notices what he's holding. 

"Jaemin, that better not be my diary." 

"I have to do a book report, Renjun." 

He marches towards his stupid cousin to grab his _personal belonging_ when Mrs. Kim catches them flipping hands at each other. "What are you children doing?"

Renjun stomps a foot, "Mrs. Kim, Jaemin's reading my diary." 

"Give me that." She grabs the notebook from Jaemin. "You, sit." Begrudgingly, Renjun walks back to his seat, boring holes at the notebook in Mrs. Kim's hand. 

  
  


"Mrs. Kim, please, I just need to pee." Mark pleads from the row next to Renjun. 

"Mr. Mark Lee. How many times have I told you to keep quiet."

"This is disgraceful! I should have access to a lavatory. What about my civil rights?"

"Corner." 

  
  


-

  
  


In a span of an hour, Mrs. Kim has managed to get (or deprived, this one's for Mark) at least one thing of their possession. Donghyuck and his lipgloss, and Jeno's sanity. She's currently asleep, with Renjun's diary opened on her desk. 

"Oh, great. Your stupid diary bore her that she fell asleep!" Donghyuck moans, pointing at the sleeping old lady that's supposed to keep an eye on them for one more hour. 

"Look, I just have to leave now. Yukhei and his band would be playing a few minutes from now." Renjun scans the room for escape. "I can use the windows, cover me." 

  
  


"Donghyuck, I cannot take this anymore." 

"What part of me not giving a flying fuck are you not getting exactly?!" Donghyuck glares before standing back to cover for Renjun as he opens the window leading to the back garden of the school. 

  
  


As if dominoes when one piece falls, the other follows, the group scrams to do what they have to do. Jeno goes up to steal the half eaten sandwich on Mrs. Kim's desk while Mark gets the bucket from the corner and opens his zipper. 

"Mark, fuck, you're disgusting." Renjun groans, ignoring the sounds of Mark's pee hitting the bucket made of steel. Donghyuck opens the old lady's purse to grab his lipgloss. "And they tell you Canadians are fucking nice, look at that savage!" He points at his cousin in annoyance. 

  
  


"It's funny how she sleeps with her eyes wide open." Jaemin giggles, holding the old lady's face up. The four halts their movements to stare at Jaemin and each other. 

  
  


That's how Mr. Nakamoto found them; Renjun sitting at the open window, Mark peeing while standing up, Jeno eating the dead lady's sandwich, Donghyuck with her purse, and Jaemin smiling as he holds her face. 

  
  
  
  
  


It looks like the first day of a new term didn't go as planned, and they're inside Mr. Nakamoto's office for the second time today. With their parents towing behind the said owner of the office. 

  
  


Jeno tries to hide behind lanky Jaemin as he sees the figure of his too good looking of a father to be a father entering the wooden door. He hears a huff from the man, "Killing nuns now, eh?" 

"It wasn't me dad!" Jeno surrenders his arms. 

His father tsk-ed, shaking his head as he sits beside Donghyuck's father, who's a great friend of his. "Wait until your _appa_ hears about this." Jeno whimpers, deflating from his seat. Not his _appa_ who thinks of Jeno as his kind baby boy, who treats him to ice cream for dessert after dinner, not him. 

  
  
  
  
  


_**S** econd_

  
  


One of the nicest things when you're attending a private Catholic school are the perks, like field trips and overseas trips. This year, it's in Tokyo. Technically, it's not Mr. Nakamoto's place of birth, but it's still in Japan. And he has been gushing about it for a week now. The five of them wanted to sign up, but when Renjun was about to write down his name on the list, he saw the amount of money needed to be paid. God help him, he might have a heart attack from it. 

  
  


This is how he's brought here, tailing behind his Ma Vic as she grabs the colored and darks separately from each other. "Trust fund?" His mother mumbles silently, focused on the laundry more than her son. 

"Yeah, Herin said her parents have that for her."

Ma Vic nods, pointing at somewhere Renjun couldn't distinguish. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Go grab my phone and I'll call the bank." 

Renjun squeals when they go back to the kitchen, his mom mumbling the numbers, thinking. "What are the numbers again, 2-0-0-0-0-3-- catch yourself on!" She hissed at Renjun. 

"How many _soondae_ will we need?" His father interrupts their bickering with the orders for dinner and snacks. 

"Two sets? I think that'll be enough." 

  
  
  
  


-

  
  


"Two sets of _soondae_ , five servings of _tteokbokki_..." Renjun smiles sheepishly at Taeil, the owner of the shop, while the other glares at him to speak faster. 

"Give me that!" Taeil snatches the paper out of Renjun's grasp, impatiently. 

  
  


Just then, Jeno saunters between Jaemin and Renjun to greet them when Taeil looks back at the newcomer questioningly. "One order of _tteokbokki_ , Taeil, please, Taeil. Thank you." The owner goes back to cooking. 

  
  


"Did you talk about your trust fund?" Renjun starts, looking at Jeno dead in the eye. They really want to go to Japan, and if one set of parents could bring them there, they're willing to do anything. 

Jeno pouts at the memory of his dad Jae and _appa_ Do telling him how money works. "Well, apparently, the school tuition is too expensive for us to afford travelling abroad." 

"And we're quite poor." Jaemin says, smiling at Jeno as if he just did something incredible there, and not readily revealed that they can't afford overseas trips.

  
  


Donghyuck enters the shop with Mark trailing behind him once again, loud as fuck, greeting them with jolly. Taeil sensed the presence and immediately asked for their orders. 

"Don't rush me, Taeil!" 

And that's the only thing Taeil needed to go back to cooking. 

"How's your trust fund?" Donghyuck demands them an answer. 

"We can't go to Japan, Donghyuck. We're poor." 

Jeno sighs, "I really want to go to Japan. What if we never have the chance to travel overseas because we're poor? What should we do?" 

Jaemin beams, pointing a hand between the five of them. "We could sell our organs." He smiles, nodding to himself. 

"We could," Jeno nods. "we could sell our organs, or, I'm sorry for saying this but I don't know, we could all just get _jobs_?" 

Donghyuck grumbles, crossing his arms. "There are no jobs in this fucking town." 

  
  
  


Taeil comes back to their side of the counter to ask. Donghyuck shouts, "One _tteokbokki_ , make it absolutely hot, my dude. Don't go easy on me!" 

"What about the lanky boy?"

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at his cousin, "Well, dickface?"

Mark smiles politely at Taeil, "I'm okay. Thanks." The rest of the boys look at him with confusion. 

"I don't understand." Jaemin says, leaning forward to get a good look at Mark's face. He's turning a scary shade of red, kind of like the _tteokbokki_ Taeil sells. 

"Are you not feeling well, Mark?" Jeno asks him, and that's when Mark couldn't take it anymore. 

"IT'S TOO SPICY! IT'S MUCH MUCH TOO SPICY. EVEN THE SMELL OF IT MAKES ME FEEL PHYSICALLY SICK!" He lashes out in the middle of the tight knit space of the shop, breathing heavily. Probably about to puke at the amount of spiciness the place smells like. 

"Get him out." Taeil glares at the group, gesturing for them to take their _tteokbokki hater_ friend out of his shop. 

  
  
  
  


_**T** hird_

  
  


After the school publication's editor in chief decided to move out of town in the middle of the academic year. The team is now wondering how they'll be able to publish the last edition for the year. It's been discussed for quite a while, and the topics to be included were still not confirmed before she moved out. Renjun was only there to help with the printing, but figured there's nothing wrong with getting himself out there and volunteering to be the new editor in chief. 

  
  


Apparently, that's a huge problem for the rest of the team. They don't want to replace the old editor in chief, and they would rather go on without taking her old position. So, the next day, when Renjun was giddily hopping towards the publication room finding no one inside but Chenle who's sitting behind a computer. 

"Where is everyone?" 

"They left, Renjun." Chenle tells him with ease, even without looking back. He's focused on the computer to care about Renjun's feelings right now. "They said you were pretty shitty to take Sungkyung's position from her now that she moved." 

Renjun huffs, standing tall. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, Chenle." 

The other looks up from the monitor, eyebrows furrowed. "I quit, Renjun. I was just deleting my files." He stands up straight when the familiar tune of the monitor shutting down plays. Without another glance, Chenle leaves the room. 

"Fine! Leave! Just so you know I have my dream team with me!" 

  
  
  
  


At least Renjun has friends nice enough to help him with the publication. They are nice, but they are quite dumb. If Jaemin squeezing the stacks of paper between the photocopy machine and the cover is anything to explain how hopeless they seem. Or, Mark and Jeno arguing about whatever it is that's on the computer. Of course, Donghyuck, who's a piece of shit reading the anonymous letters that's supposed to be included for the next edition of the school newspaper. 

"Hey," Donghyuck whispers. "Hey, hey." He says louder when no one was paying attention the first time. He waves a paper in his hands, that's unsurprisingly from the anonymous box. "A coming out letter from one of the students." 

Jaemin automatically turns to Mark at the words. There had been an on going discourse even their families know of, that Mark is gay. Of course, nothing wrong with being gay. Love is love, right? But Mark, 

"I told you a bunch of times. I am not gay." 

Jaemin shrugs, goes back to looking at Donghyuck's smug face. "Let's use this as the headline."

"You fucker." Jeno whispers angrily. "That's a personal matter, you can't just release that as _a headline_." 

"It's going to the newspaper, anyway. Got any better ideas? We're struggling here." 

The rest agrees with him, but Jeno shakes his head. "I am not going to work with you guys if you continue with this." 

Donghyuck whispers that Jeno's too much of a wussy to work in the school publication which made his friend walk out the room. 

  
  


The next day, even with Mr. Nakamoto's defiant _no_. The four of them printed the paper and began giving it out to the whole student body. Jeno hops off the bus, ignoring his shouting friends. 

Mark was towing behind him as he gave the students the papers. "I support gays! Even if I, myself, am not actually gay!" 

  
  


-

Mr. Nakamoto saw the willingness of the four to publish the newspaper, so he didn't do anything when he walked down the hallway and the students are actively discussing about the headline. It was all positive remarks from what he's heard. They were supportive of the student whose identity was still unknown. That's why Mr. Nakamoto was smiling as he sat on his office chair. 

  
  
  


Jeno is sweating buckets for reasons unknown. He stands in front of his four friends eating lunch outside the school garden. 

"Hi."

Donghyuck rolls his eyes, throwing Jeno a piece of bread but misses, "Look who finally showed up."

"I'm sorry for leaving okay. I just got nervous." Jeno admits, breathing heavily from running too quickly. 

Renjun side eyes him, munching his food. "Everything makes you nervous, Jeno. You're a walking cack attack."

Jeno glares back at his friend, then to his shoes. "Can't help it, it's the way God made me." 

"Why are you here anyway?" Donghyuck says, words muffled by the amount of food on his mouth. 

"Donghyuck was saying he's the anonymous gay." Renjun states, looking idly at Jeno. "We know he's lying, but it'll be more believable if it's you."

"It is me." 

"No, I mean. It'll be less surprising if it was you." Renjun shrugs, Jaemin copies him. 

"Listen, guys. It is me." 

Donghyuck narrows his eyes at Jeno, "You're joking?"

"No. I'm...the anonymous gay." Jeno smiles crookedly, and of course, with nerves dancing around his body. 

  
  


"Huh," Mark interrupts the silence of his friends. "That's cool, man." 

  
  
  


In the end, they did accept it and now, everything is fine. It wasn't that hard to come out to friends you've known for years...and Mark. He's cooler than an ice cooler on a summer day. Days go as always, added with Donghyuck's teasing and asking who he likes. Especially now that prom is coming soon. 

  
  


They're currently walking uphill after school. Talking about the clothes and prom dates. "Mark here isn't going, he's attending a pervert convention." 

"Hey," Mark defended, punching Donghyuck's arm as a way of trying to be bold enough. But Donghyuck pushes him harder, resulting in Mark stumbling at a near wall. No injuries, good enough. "It's a Marvel convention."

"Yeah, you show up there with costumes and jack off about fictional characters." 

Jeno huffs from beside Donghyuck. "That's a shame. I was gonna ask Mark to be my date." 

"You're gay, Jeno. Not desperate."

"I'm sorry, Jeno. I already bought a ticket for the convention."

"'S'kay, Mark. Enjoy the convention." 

  
  


They disperse when they near Jeno's house which leads Donghyuck and Mark to go to the opposite side, Jaemin and Renjun went straight ahead. 

  
  
  


The new transferee, Yerim, was a sweetheart and told Jeno she could be his date to prom. It was set, and the night is still young. As much as they have mentioned they go as one, the group is currently separated with their own dates. Mark ended up as Renjun date, or buddy, when the girl from his Biology class didn't show up. Donghyuck is kissing his bottle of liquor he sneaked in because they aren't allowed to drink liquor at a school event. At a Catholic school event. Jeno is currently lost, Yerim was with him two minutes ago but now she's...not? 

  
  


A few slow dances and more party dances later. Even with the other nuns' warning to not play that Nicki Minaj song, Donghyuck still requested it. It's now time to announce the prom royalties. The four of them are together, but Jeno is still looking for Yerim. The last time he saw the girl was at the beginning of the night. It's about to end and--

  
  
  


"Yerim is a psycho!" Renjun fumbles, squeezing between Mark and Jaemin as they stare at Herin from the stage, announcing who the prom queen will be. "I heard from a guy who was a classmate of hers in her old school that she's a bully! She's going to sabotage Eunji!" 

  
  


Mark then noticed the about four buckets of paint hanging on the ceiling right in the middle of the stage. Yerim is behind the curtain holding a rope that connects to the bucket. "Oh so like Carrie?"

"Carrie?" Jeno whimpers beside Donghyuck, face paling by the second. Who would have thought his date for the night was a fucking psycho?! No one. "What's Carrie?"

"Nice movie." Jaemin muses.

"Mmm really good." Donghyuck nods in agreement.

"Expand and explain! Expand and explain!" Jeno angrily whispers, glaring at his friends. 

Mark pities and explains how the movie went, "So Carrie ends up with pig's blood all over her body as she's been announced as prom queen. There's a lot more to it, but that's the context we're looking for." 

At this point Jeno is not a person, he is a breathing nervous system. "We need to do-" Before he could even finish, Herin has announced that Eunji, without any surprise, is the prom queen. "Stop her!" Jeno shouts, the five of them running up the stage.

  
  


The surroundings moved slowly as they ran up the stairs, Jeno grabbed Yerim's hand from the rope but the sly girl held it tighter. Jeno glares at her, "Don't do it!" 

"You can't tell me what to do, Jeno!" 

As Jeno fights with his prom date, the rest of his friends try to get Eunji out of the spotlight before she gets red all over the dress. 

"Have you ever seen Carrie?" Mark asks from behind the catfight going on stage. But before someone could tell him to shut up, liquids came spluttering above to them. 

  
  


"It's pig's blood! It's pig's blood!" Renjun says like a mantra, shaking the remnants of it on his face and clothes. 

"No, I think it's just tomato juice." 

  
  
  
  


_**F** ourth_

  
  


Mark had been excited all day, not only is he celebrating his first independence day in this new place, his mother came by to get him. They're on their way to meet Renjun and Jaemin at their house. Jeno is probably there already, he's been texting Donghyuck for the past hour. His mother was kind enough to drive them there and announce her comeback. 

  
  


"Hi, Auntie Vic." Mark shyly waves a hand at Renjun's mother who greeted them by the door. Donghyuck didn't even care and just entered the house, saying profanities while Jeno tells him to shut up. "This is my mom, Joy." She smiles at the people around the kitchen once they stopped walking.

"Sooyoung? Is that you?" Jaemin's mother says, eyeing the woman beside Mark. "Gee, I gotta say, your eyebrows are amazing."

Her sister nudges her on the side, but she looks at her pointedly, "What? You can hate on someone but still know they have great eyebrows." 

  
  


"You've been gone for a while, eh, Joy, was it? Is that your name now?" Victoria stands there, in defense position with her spatula at hand. The kids are sitting next to one another watching the scene curiously. 

"Yeah, I needed to change my name to make it more _foreign_ you know?" Her laugh is fake, but Mark follows the laugh of her mother. They sit together on the couch across the dinner table. "I was thinking of taking my dear Markie back to Canada with me."

"After leaving him here alone, indefinitely, without the guidance of his mother?" 

Joy smiles stiffly, "I'm here now right? Mark could be a great help for my business."

"Business?"

Mark hums, "Yeah, mom started making self-adhesive labels."

"Stickers?" Victoria mumbles. 

"No," Joy argues. "They're self-adhesive labels."

"Those are stickers." 

"I design self-adhesive labels."

"You're a sticker maker?"

Jaemin's mom butts in, squeezing beside Victoria, "How much money do you make with selling stickers--"

"They're not stickers!" Joy tells them, smiling comically wide, but her voice sounding frustrated. 

  
  


"I think it's gonna do great." Mark helps, smiling admirably at his mother. 

  
  


By the time the chitchat is over, Joy decides to announce their leave. Mark has his clothes packed in his room, and they just have to get it before calling a cab to the airport. Joy leaves first, telling her son she'll wait for him outside her brother's house. Joy gives him time to say one last goodbye to his friends. But the other four followed him out when he turned to leave. 

  
  


"Are you really leaving, Mark?" Jeno shouts outside the porch, gripping the wooden pillar closest to him. 

"Yeah, can't you just...stay?" Renjun states, eyes droopy and sad, unlike all the times Mark has seen him. 

"He's not serious, assholes." Donghyuck scoffs, looking back to his cousin. 

"I am," Mark walks closer to them. "Let's face it. This was never my real life. I have to leave eventually."

"But you love it here!" Jaemin forced himself to smile. 

Mark smiles at him sadly, "I'm not sure I do. I mean, I'm not sure I belong here." 

Donghyuck steps down, now eye to eye with his idiot of a cousin, "You really think Auntie would bring you back with her because she wants you to?"

"Well, yeah. She wants us to take care of her business together."

"Free labor. Free labor is what she's after, Mark. Stop being stupid. She never cared for anyone but herself. Why did she dump you here in the first place if she'll take you back because _she wants to_."

Mark doesn't get why all of a sudden everyone seems to care about him, all of a sudden he's not being called a dickface by his own cousin. Maybe he's taking too long and hallucinating. 

"Look, Mark. You're one of us. You might have that crooked Korean accent but you're part of the group, you always have been. Because being a dream member is a fucking state of mind." Donghyuck finishes, eyes determined. Mark scans Jaemin, Jeno, and Renjun's faces, telling him the same thing. 

"I, I need to go guys."

  
  
  


-

  
  


Independence day celebration usually feels freeing, but to these young men, it kind of felt like a part of them had been tugged out of their system. Like a broken leg, or a chopped leg. Because they can barely walk out of Renjun and Jaemin's house without sticking together. They sway left and right, the night is chilly and the streets are almost empty compared to the loud parade and celebration that morning. 

  
  


"Mark?" Jaemin breathes out. 

"Yeah, dickhead is gone, Jaemin." Donghyuck mumbles, eyes closed, putting his head on Jeno's shoulder. 

"Mark!" Jaemin says one more time, leaving the other three to run across the yard. "You didn't leave?" They hear Jaemin squeal as they adjust to their surroundings. 

A series of _Mark_ follows and the three other run to where Mark is currently holding Jaemin in his arms because Renjun's cousin decided to jump at him. 

  
  


As the five of them hug, and Jaemin still hasn't gotten off Mark like a koala. Mark looks lovingly at his friends, smiling. "I'm a dream member." 

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated ♡


End file.
